The first time in seven years there has been THREE hurricanes in the Atlantic region at once

Tropical storm Katia strengthened into a hurricane off the Mexican coast on Wednesday - marking the first time since 2010 there has been a trio of hurricanes around the Atlantic region at the same time.

Hurricane Katia is 185 miles east of Tampico, Mexico in the Gulf of Mexico. It is packing maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

Some additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours and it is expected to reach the coastline of oil-producing Veracruz state sometime between Friday and Saturday.




Tropical storm Katia strengthened into a hurricane off the Mexican coast on Wednesday - marking the first time since 2010 there has been a trio of hurricanes around the Atlantic region



Hurricane Katia is the third to form in the Atlantic region behind Irma (left) and Jose (right). It is the first time three hurricanes have formed at the same time in the Atlantic region since 2010

Models so far show it remaining in the southern Gulf in coming days.

The announcement of Hurricane Katia came minutes after the National Hurricane Center revealed Tropical Storm Jose had formed into a category 1 hurricane in the open Atlantic.

Both hurricanes formed after Hurricane Irma - a deadly category 5 storm that has become the strongest ever recorded in the Atlantic.

It is the first time three active hurricanes have formed at the same time in the Atlantic region since 2010, according to meteorologists.

Philip Klotzbach, a meteorologist at CSU specializing in Atlantic hurricane forecasts, tweeted: 'The Atlantic now has 3 hurricanes active at the same time: #Irma, #Jose and #Katia. The last time this occurred was September 16-17, 2010.'

He added that the Atlantic record for hurricanes at the same time was four, which occurred both in 1893 and 1998.

It is common for major storms to hit back to back, but to have more than one hit the US in one hurricane season is rare, according to CBS.

An average season - which last from June to November - generally produces 12 named storms. Katia is the 11th to form this season. The average season only produces about three major hurricanes, which are a category 3 or higher.

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